Saint Alphonsus Medical Center gets ready for crises

Disaster preparedness is a concern for entire communities, though it is especially imperative for hospitals to get ready for emergencies. The Saint Alphonsus Medical Center in Nampa, Idaho, recently conducted a training exercise in preparation for a real crisis scenario, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported.

Along with other local medical facilities, Saint Alphonsus practiced responding to a fabricated situation involving compromised Alaskan infrastructure. In the scenario, the deficient hospital framework created a need for patients to be moved to other health care institutions, explained Clint Child, vice president of patient services at the Nampa operation.

During the drill, Saint Alphonsus got ready to host four patients at the Nampa Health Plaza and 16 at the hospital. Individuals posing as patients were put through a number of medical facility situations, including intervention, trips to the intensive care unit and triage.

"It flexes the capacity of health care providers throughout the whole region so we can say, 'How do we help a hospital in that situation?'" Child said.

Communication is crucial for coordinating efforts between hospitals, officials, first responders and the community during emergencies. Maintaining contact during times of crisis can be facilitated with an alert and notification system such as Omnilert. The platform lets hospital workers issue and manage mass notifications from a single screen and initiate instant teleconferences between hospitals for enhanced group collaboration.